Preventing Injuries
through Fitness Training
Introduction
Coaches and Athletic Trainers both
recognize the importance of conditioning
and training to prevent athletic injuries.
However, it takes cooperation between
everyone involved to gradually bring the
athlete to a level of fitness that will
prevent early season injuries. Both the
coach and athletic trainer must
understand the basic principles of T&C.
Concept of Periodization
Definition - periodization is a concept
which organizes the conditioning of the
athlete into cycles or periods of need.
Macrocycle - the complete training period.
Mesocycle - a smaller period of time, usually
weeks or months, within the total T&C period.
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Preparatory Period - generally during the off-season
Competition Period - training during competition
Transition Period - during early part of off-season
Cross Training - using alternative activities
Principles of Conditioning
 Warm-up/Cool-down
 Motivation
 Overload
 Consistency
 Progression
 Intensity
 Specificity
 Individuality
 Minimize Stress
 Safety
Flexibility
It is generally accept that flexibility is an
important component of injury prevention.
essential for optimum athletic performance
maintains health of joints
allows for maximum range of motion about a
joint
helps decrease injuries to muscle, tendon,
musculotendinous unit, joint surfaces,
ligaments, joint capsule
Flexibility
Factors that Limit Flexibility
bony structure (fracture of elbow)
excessive fat
muscle and tendon tension
connective tissue
These may all be normal reasons for reaching the
end of a range of motion
Flexibility
Active and Passive Range of Motion(ROM)
Active ROM - also called dynamic flexibility, where the
athlete moves the joint.
Passive ROM - also called static flexibility, where the joint
is moved to its endpoints by someone else or with no
muscle action.
Stretching
Background: it is helpful to review the
function of agonistic vs antagonistic
muscles in the movement of a joint.
Types of Stretching Techniques
Ballistic stretching
Static stretching
PNF stretching
Stretching
Neurophysiologic Basis of Stretching
Mechanoreceptors in the muscle inform nervous system of
changes in muscle length and tension.
Golgi tendon organs - sensitive to change in length and tension
Muscle spindles - sensitive to changes in length - need prolonged
stretch (6 sec) before reflexive contraction subsides and GTO
responds with reflexive relaxation of the antagonistic muscles.
The GTO can override the muscle spindles.
Muscular Strength,
Endurance, Power
Importance of Muscular Strength/Endurance
Muscular strength = the ability of a muscle to generate
force against some resistance.
Muscular Power = a large amount of force generated quickly
Muscular Endurance = the ability to perform repetitive
muscular contractions against resistance for an extended
period of time.
These are all important in the design of a sport
specific conditioning program and used in the
reconditioning of the athlete after sustaining injury.
Resistance Training
Techniques
The training program may incorporate exercises using
different types of muscle contraction :
Isometric exercise - muscle contracts to a maximum force but there is
no change in muscle length - hold contraction for ten seconds - often used
in the early rehabilitation stages isotonic contraction is either
concentric (the muscle shortens through the joint range as the
muscle contracts - function to accelerate movement), or
eccentric (the muscle gradually lengthens throughout the
contraction - function to decelerate motion).
Eccentric exercise is more fatiguing because less motor units are
required to achieve a certain force - this type of exercise is essential in
reconditioning tendon injury. A training program which incorporates an
eccentric strength component will help reduce injuries to the susceptible
decelerating muscles.
Resistance Training
Techniques
Isokinetic exercise -
muscle length changes while contraction is
performed at constant velocity (this method can only be done with a
machine and is used for speed training - relies on the motivation of the
individual to use maximum strength for each contraction)
plyometric exercise -
specific exercises that encompass a rapid
stretch of a muscle eccentrically followed immediately by a rapid concentric
contraction = forceful explosive movement over a short period of time
Must have a good strength base and technique to begin this
type of exercise and must be incorporated into a rehabilitation
program to prevent further injury.
Progressive Resistance Exercise - based on the principles of
progression and overload.
Strength Development
Physiology of Strength Development
There have been a number of theories given to
explain why or how a muscle hypertrophies in
response to strength training, such as:
fibers split in response to training
number of fibers is genetically determined and stay the
same, but the number of capillaries is increased
the muscle’s myofilaments increase in both size & number,
causing the fibers to increase in cross-sectional diameter
Resistance Training Techniques Used
The overload principle is the basis of all methods
Strength Training Methods
 Isometric Exercise
 Progressive Resistive Exercise
 Isotonic Contractions
Concentric Contractions
Eccentric (Negative) Contractions
 Free Weights versus Machines
 Isokinetic Exercise
 Circuit Training
 Calisthenics Exercises
 Plyometrics
 Training the Female Athlete
Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Transport and Utilization of Oxygen
Effects on the Heart
Effects on Work Ability
The Energy Systems
Training Techniques for Cardio Endurance
Methods and Equipment Used
Summary
Total body conditioning contributes to
decreased injury and improved health